I admit it. M. Night Shyamalan scares the beejezus out of me. I have watched, and actually own a few of his movies. The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs are all on my DVD movie shelf. I have The Last Airbender on my list to watch, as I really enjoyed the animated series. I will watch his others, I just don’t really watch television all that much right now.

The Happening is only a 90-minute flick, and it was a good way to wake up this evening when I crawled out of bed. Sometimes, when I have had trouble sleeping it takes me a while to get truly conscious, so tea and a muffin and a movie are sometimes the perfect way to wake up.

I didn’t even really recognize that this was a Shyamalan film until I actually opened it up in my movie rental list. Bless Dish’s little heart for offering a great list of free movies!

The Happening may not be one of Shyamalan’s best, but it certainly isn’t his worst. Not as bone-chilling as some of the others, what starts out as what is thought to be a terrorist attack becomes something much more, as humans begin slaughtering themselves in Central Park. The contagion spreads across the east coast, attacking smaller and smaller populations, until nearly the whole population is extinct.

Shyamalan has created a tight film, set within a short time period, which addresses the human depredation of the Earth – and the Earth’s capability to fight back. I got a huge kick out of it! I loved the idea of the Earth finally saying Enough! If you like Shyamalan’s odd, quirky style and a film which addresses our carelessness towards this beautiful blue planet we are blessed with, give this movie a try. It didn’t get really good reviews in a lot of places, but we can’t all like the same things, right? It isn’t Signs but it is a great little movie for what it is – one of the earlier works of a brilliant man.

Photo courtesy of IMDb

About M. Night Shyamalan

When you say fear of the unknown, that is the definition of fear; fear is the unknown, fear is what you do not know, and it’s genetically within us so that we feel safe. We feel scared of the woods because we’re not familiar with it, and that keeps you safe.

Born in India but raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is the son of two doctors. His passion for filmmaking began when he was given a Super-8 camera at age eight, and even at that young age began to model his career on that of his idol, Steven Spielberg. His first film, Praying with Anger (1992), was based somewhat on his own trip back to visit the India of his birth. He raised all the funds for this project, in addition to directing, producing and starring in it. Wide Awake (1998), his second film, he wrote and directed, and shot it in the Philadelphia-area Catholic school he once attended–even though his family was of a different religion, they sent him to that school because of its strict discipline.

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7 thoughts on “Review: M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening””

Actually, I had expected it to be much “scarier” than it was. It was more like a dream – – – no monsters that you could see – more like the monster under the bed. You know it is there, it can jump out and get you at any minute, but at the same time, you can’t see it. It is just there . . . So yes, scary, but scary/creepy more than “oh, my god, I am going to throw up!” sort of scary!

Wow that was odd. I just wrote an extremely long comment but
after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr…
well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say wonderful blog!